Sunday, July 22, 2007

25. Going Fishing by Bruce McMillan


Nonfiction book annotation
By: Angela Wilcox

32 pages



McMillan, B. (2005). Going fishing. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Author Creditability: McMillan is a well known author that has written 44 honored children’s books. He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and the Author’s Guild. His photographic work has appeared in exhibits throughout the country.

Summary: This photo-documentary is done about a young Icelandic boy named Fridrik. He goes fishing with both of his grandfathers. One of them fishes for cod and the other one fishes for lumpfish. Each fishing trip teaches him of particular characteristics about each type of fish, locations that each type are found, and purposes for the different fish once they are caught. McMillan adds conversation between Fridrik and his grandfathers that would be typical for any Iceland grandfather and grandson. The dialogue ties the information together, while still teaching the reader about fishing in Iceland.

Most Important Access Features: This book has vocabulary, Iceland language, which most people would not be able to pronounce, so there are pronunciations available for the reader. On the verso page there is a horizontal photo of the village in Iceland where the book takes place. Right under it there is an illustration of a globe with a label t show the reader where Iceland is located and the village is located. At the end of the book there is a page with scientific information and pictures of the featured fish.

Description of Illustrations
: McMillan took the photographs in this book. They were taken with a Nikon thirty-five mm camera. Fridrik is a five year old boy who lives in Iceland. The photos in this book are very much family oriented while fishing in Iceland.

Grade Level & Uses: K-5; This book would be appropriate to use while studying Iceland, fishing, or fish.

Standards: Science as inquiry; Life Science; Science in personal and social perspective

Related Texts & How Related: The following books were written by Bruce McMillan and could be used along with Going Fishing to talk about Iceland and other topics.

My Horse of the North
Gletta the Foal
Days of the Ducklings
Nights of the Pufflings
Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme


Quality/Awards:
National Council for Social Studies Children’s Book Council
Notable Social Studies Trade Book for 2006

Personal Response to Book: I loved the information of Iceland. I have always wanted to go and tour there. I also like the interaction between Fridrik and his grandfathers. It reminded me of my grandfathers and going fishing with them and my dad.

1 comment:

Allison Fielder said...

This would be great to use as a compare and contrast book when talking about fishing in Iceland and the South. It sounds very different and I think it would be fun for students to talk about.